UFC President Dana White announced on Tuesday evening that Faber
will compete as scheduled at UFC
148, despite Cruz being forced to withdraw from the
championship rematch with a torn ACL. “The California Kid” will
instead square off against a to-be-named opponent for the UFC
interim bantamweight title.

UFC 148 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and
will be headlined by a middleweight title rematch between longtime
champion Anderson
Silva and former challenger Chael
Sonnen.

Faber and Cruz first met during their time with World Extreme
Cagefighting. “The Dominator” challenged Faber for his
featherweight title in 2007, tapping out to a guillotine choke in
just 98 seconds at WEC 26. Cruz would even the score four years
later, however, outpointing Faber to defend his bantamweight crown
at UFC 132 in July 2011.

Faber and Cruz currently oppose each other as coaches on the 15th
season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show. Though his rubber
match with Faber has been placed on the back burner for now, Cruz
is expected to continue in his coaching capacity. However, the
promotion has yet to officially comment on the matter.